The Truth War (3 page)

Scripture describes all authentic Christians as those who
know
the truth and have been liberated by it (John 8:32). They
believe
it with a whole heart (2 Thessalonians 2:13). They
obey
the truth through the Spirit of God (1 Peter 1:22). And they have received a fervent
love
for the truth through the gracious work of God in their hearts (2 Thessalonians 2:10). According to the Bible, then, you haven't really grasped the truth at all if there is no sense in which you know it, believe it, submit to it, and love it.

Clearly, the existence of absolute truth and its inseparable relationship to the person of God is the most essential tenet of all truly biblical Christianity. Speaking plainly: if you are one of those who questions whether truth is really important, please don't call your belief system “Christianity,” because that is not what it is.

A biblical perspective of truth also necessarily entails the recognition that ultimate truth is an objective reality. Truth exists outside of us and remains the same regardless of how we may perceive it. Truth by definition is as fixed and constant as God is immutable. That is because real truth (what Francis Schaeffer called “true truth”) is the unchanged and unchanging expression of who God is; it is not our own personal and arbitrary interpretation of reality.

A BIBLICAL
PERSPECTIVE OF TRUTH
ALSO NECESSARILY
ENTAILS THE
RECOGNITION THAT
ULTIMATE TRUTH IS AN
OBJECTIVE REALITY.
TRUTH EXISTS OUTSIDE
OF US AND REMAINS THE
SAME REGARDLESS OF
HOW WE MAY
PERCEIVE IT. TRUTH BY
DEFINITION IS AS FIXED
AND CONSTANT AS GOD
IS IMMUTABLE.

Amazingly, Christians in our generation need to be reminded of these things. Truth is never determined by looking at God's Word and asking, “What does this mean to me?” Whenever I hear someone talk like that, I'm inclined to ask, “What did the Bible mean before you existed? What does
God
mean by what He says?” Those are the proper questions to be asking. Truth and meaning are not determined by our intuition, experience, or desire. The true meaning of Scripture—or anything else, for that matter—has already been determined and fixed by the mind of God. The task of an interpreter is to discern
that
meaning. And proper interpretation must precede application.

The meaning of God's Word is neither as obscure nor as difficult to grasp as people today often pretend. Admittedly, some things in the Bible
are
hard to understand (2 Peter 3:16), but its central, essential truth is plain enough that no one need be confused by it. “Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray” (Isaiah 35:8).

Moreover, our individual perception of truth certainly can and does change. Of course we gain better understanding as we grow. We all begin by being nourished on the milk of the Word. As we gain the ability to chew and digest harder truths, we are supposed to be strengthened by the meat of the Word (1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12). That is, we move from a merely childlike knowledge to a more mature grasp of truth in all its richness and relationship to other truth.

But truth itself does not change just because our point of view does. As we mature in our ability to perceive truth, truth itself remains fixed. Our duty is to conform all our thoughts to the truth (Psalm 19:14); we are not entitled to redefine “truth” to fit our own personal viewpoints, preferences, or desires. We must not ignore or discard selected truths just because we might find them hard to receive or difficult to fathom. Above all, we can't get apathetic or lazy about the truth when the price of understanding or defending the truth turns out to be demanding or costly. Such a self-willed approach to the truth is tantamount to usurping God (Psalm 12:4). People who take that route guarantee their own destruction (Romans 2:8–9).

Moreover, God
has
revealed Himself and His truth with sufficient clarity. Even apart from the explicit, special revelation of the Bible, God has made some of the principle elements of spiritual truth clear enough for everyone. Scripture says, for example, that the cardinal truths concerning God, His power, His glory, and His righteousness are naturally known to all people through creation and conscience (Romans 1:19–20; 2:14–16). That truth is adequately clear and sufficient to leave the entire human race “without excuse” (Romans 1:20). All those who are condemned in the final judgment will be held responsible for rejecting whatever truth was available to them. The fact that a just and righteous God holds both unbelievers and believers alike responsible for obedience to His revelation is irrefutable proof that He has made the truth sufficiently clear for us. To claim that the Bible is not sufficiently clear is to assault God's own wisdom and integrity.

HOW TRUTH IS UNDER ASSAULT IN THE CHURCH TODAY

The clarity and sufficiency of Scripture, the lostness of unredeemed humanity, and the justice of God in condemning sinners are all longstanding convictions in every major strain of historic Christianity. Christians have differed among themselves about peripheral questions or lesser points of doctrine. But historically and collectively, Christians have always been in full agreement that whatever is true—whatever is objectively and ontologically true—is true
whether any given individual understands it, likes it, or receives it
as truth
. In other words, because reality is created and truth is defined by God, what is really true is true for everyone, regardless of anyone's personal perspective or individual preferences.

These days, however, people are experimenting with subjective, relativistic ideas of truth and labeling them “Christian.” This trend signals a significant departure from biblical and historic Christianity. Carried to its necessary conclusion, it will lead inevitably to the abandonment or compromise of every essential element of the true Christian faith. It is, I am convinced, another major onslaught in an ages-old battle against truth by the powers of darkness. The fact that this error is being taught and defended and promoted by people who profess to know and love Christ does not alter the fact that it is error. And the fact that relativism is often propagated in books found on the best-seller racks in evangelical bookstores does not alter the seriousness of the error. The remodeling of our ideas about truth and certainty poses a severe danger to the heart and core of the Christian gospel.

PEOPLE ARE
EXPERIMENTING WITH
SUBJECTIVE,
RELATIVISTIC IDEAS OF
TRUTH AND LABELING
THEM “CHRISTIAN.” THIS
TREND SIGNALS A
SIGNIFICANT DEPARTURE
FROM BIBLICAL AND
HISTORIC CHRISTIANITY.

As always, a war is being waged against the truth. We are on one side or the other. There is no middle ground—no safe zone for the uncommitted. Lately the question of truth itself—what it is and whether we can truly know it at all—has become one of the major points of contention.

We also happen to be living in a generation when many so-called Christians have no taste for conflict and contention. Multitudes of biblically and doctrinally malnourished Christians have come to think of controversy as something that should always be avoided, whatever the cost. Sadly, that is what many weak pastors have modeled for them.

Controversy and conflict in the church are never to be relished or engaged in without sufficient cause. But in every generation, the battle for the truth has proved ultimately unavoidable, because the enemies of truth are relentless. Truth is
always
under assault. And it is actually a sin
not
to fight when vital truths are under attack.

That is true even though fighting sometimes results in conflict within the visible community of professing Christians. In fact, whenever the enemies of gospel truth succeed in infiltrating the church, faithful believers are obliged to take the battle to them even there. That is certainly the case today, as it has been since apostolic times.

HOW FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS
M
UST
RESPOND

As the Holy Spirit drew New Testament revelation to its completion, the importance of fighting for the truth emerged as one of the dominant themes. Tucked into the end of the New Testament, in the shadow of Revelation (which describes the final battle and ultimate triumph of truth), we find three very short epistles whose common theme is devotion to the truth in the midst of conflict. The apostle John wrote two of them. Second John contains the word
truth
five times in the first four verses alone. It ends with this sobering message (vv. 7–11):

Many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

Third John likewise has truth as a major theme. The word
truth
appears six times in the epistle's fourteen verses. The apostle John was writing to defend the truth against Diotrephes, who loved having preeminence in the church more than he loved the truth. By contrast, he commends Demetrius, saying he “has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself ” (v. 12).

Jude wrote the third in the trio of “postcard” epistles. His whole point in writing was to remind believers of their duty to fight for the truth. It wasn't what he intended to write about. When he took up his pen to write, his plan was “to write . . . concerning our common salvation.” But he was compelled by the Holy Spirit instead to exhort us with all passion “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

Jude was talking specifically about battling the influence of false teachers who had secretly infiltrated the Christian community. These men were apparently turning Christian pulpits into platforms from which they broadcast lies that undermined the heart of Christian doctrine: “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 4).

That inspired warning from Jude 3–4 is what has prompted me to write this book. I have already written a complete commentary on Jude,
⁸
and there is no need to cover the same ground again. So in this book, I want to focus very closely on those two verses (vv. 3–4) in particular. We will look at Jude's warning from several different angles. We will examine why defending the faith inevitably requires warfare, rather than the gullibly sanguine stance many Christians today seem to favor. We will see why indifference, timidity, compromise, and nonresistance are all ruled out as options for Christians when the gospel is under attack. We will examine some of the major engagements in the Truth War throughout church history. And above all, we will discuss why Jude's warning is particularly applicable for the times in which we live.

My heart resonates with Jude's concern for the church, his love for the gospel, and his passion for the truth. I too would prefer to write about something positive—concerning such things as the riches of salvation and all the joy and blessings that belong to all who are truly in Christ; our love for the Lord; and especially His grace and glory. In fact, this book is ultimately about all those things and how to safeguard them, because they are precisely the points of truth that are ultimately at stake in the Truth War.

Yet rather than deal with those things in a completely positive and nonpolemical way, I find myself compelled to echo the inspired words of Jude and exhort my readers who truly love Christ:
you
need to contend earnestly for the faith
. Truth is under heavy attack, and there are too few courageous warriors who are willing to fight. When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, believers from this generation will not be able to justify their apathy by complaining that the strife of conflict over truth just seemed “too negative” for the kind of culture we lived in—or that the issues were “merely doctrinal” and therefore not worth the effort.

Remember, Christ rebuked the churches in Revelation 2–3 who had tolerated false teachers in their midst (2:14–16; 20–23). He expressly
commended
the Ephesian church for examining the claims of certain false apostles and exposing them as liars (2:2). Churches have a clear duty to guard the faith against false teachers who infiltrate. Christ Himself demands it.

At the same time, we need to notice carefully that a polemical defense of the faith by no means guarantees a healthy church, much less a healthy individual Christian. Christ also
rebuked
the doctrinally sound Ephesians for departing from their first love (Revelation 2:4). As vital as it is for us to enlist in the Truth War and do battle for our faith, it is even more important to remember why we are fighting—not merely for the thrill of vanquishing some foe or winning some argument, but out of a genuine love for Christ, who is the living, breathing embodiment of all that we hold true and worth fighting for.

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